The ABC - A Bench for Caps plastic recycling program in Chandler has already provided two new benches at the Chandler Town Park since it began with efforts by Girl Scout Troop #363 a little more than a year and a half ago. Thanks to the efforts by the Girl Scouts, and individuals in our community and beyond, we continue to collect plastic lids and caps to provide additional site amenities for the park and help keep so much plastic from going to the landfill.
Earlier this year, the Chandler Parks Board decided to use our current caps collection toward the purchase of a wheelchair accessible picnic table for the park; there are no such picnic tables at our parks presently. We are excited to be a part of this project, as it goes along with our mission to improve the quality of life for every resident.
To purchase the picnic table, it takes 1,100 pounds of plastic. We thought we were getting close to this goal, so we enlisted the help of the Ignite Youth Group at Faith Free Will Baptist Church to weigh our collection efforts. We are now at 859.4 pounds, leaving us 240.6 pounds short of our goal.
You can help us meet this goal by saving the plastic lids and caps from all manner of bottles, tubs, canisters, etc. (no fast food drink lids, however); we are also allowed to collect medicine bottles that have the recycling number 2, 4, or 5 on the bottom for this project. Drop-off locations include LNB Community Bank in Chandler, Chandler Town Hall, and Chandler Utilities Maintenance Facility. You may also bring them to one of our upcoming events (Memorial Day Weekend Clean-up at the Park; Lillpop's Used Auto Sales Free Youth Fishing Tournament, or the Hoopla! Hula Hoop-a-thon).
Thanks for all the help so far, and keep saving those lids! This effort is making a difference in your community!

Check out the News 14 coverage of our plastic recycling project to get new park benches.
We are excited about this campaign to help the community through sustainable practices and provide an opportunity for everyone to take ownership in our park system. See our previous post to find details on the project and other ways to get involved.

4 A Better Chandler, Inc. has partnered with Girl Scout Troop 363, the Chandler Park Board, and the Town of Chandler to collect plastic bottle caps and lids to be recycled into park benches. This project is part of Green Tree Plastics' ABC Promise Partnership, "A Bench for Caps" campaign.

The ABC campaign is an opportunity for children to make a difference in their communities while learning about sustainability and putting into action a recycling project with tangible results. Once the caps and lids are collected from people throughout the community, the children are supervised in sorting and weighing the plastic.

For every goal met, the plastic is taken to Green Tree Plastics in Evansville, where it is exchanged for a park bench. Other items are also available through the program, such as standard and ADA-compliant picnic tables. The amount of plastic required is dependent upon the item, ranging from 200 to 1,100 pounds of plastic per item.

How you ca﻿n help﻿

Examples of acceptable lids and caps

The simplest way to participate in this project is to save your plastic lids and bottle caps (please rinse them, if needed). Pretty much all plastic lids and caps are accepted in the program, except: those with any kind of metal, pumps, trigger sprayers, and fast food drink lids. Additionally, plastic vitamin and medicine bottles (with personal information removed) are also accepted in the program if they contain the recycle number of 2, 4, or 5. For a list of all approved items, click here.

Once you've collected your plastic, please place them in a plastic bag and drop them off at the Chandler Town Hall; there is a collection box located in the foyer. You may also bring them to a Chandler Park Board meeting or contact 4 A Better Chandler, Inc. for additional options.

Throughout this campaign, we may ask for volunteers to help with sorting and weighing the plastic, and to help with transportation of the collected lids and caps and pick-up of the recycled items. Be sure to sign up as a volunteer if you're interested in helping with any of these tasks. We hope to have periodic weigh-ins to keep the community updated on our progress to meet our goals as the project moves along.

Finally, each bench has an additional cost above the donation of plastic. While the Chandler Park Board intends to continue the program as long as it is able to purchase the benches and/or picnic tables, individuals and businesses are certainly welcome to donate toward this expense. Pricing varies dependent upon the item purchased:

If you are interested in purchasing a bench or picnic table, we encourage you to contact us. You may also make a donation of any amount - please note "Bench Project" on the donation - to 4 A Better Chandler, Inc. at the Chandler Branch of LNB Community Bank, online through our PayPal account, or directly to the Chandler Park Board. 4 A Better Chandler, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity, and as such, contributions made to our organization are tax deductible under IRC Section 170.